This invention relates to mattresses and seat cushions, and more particularly relates to means for incorporating air into mattresses and seat cushions, for comfortably supporting a patient and the like, and thereby preventing bed sores and like maladies attributable to insufficient air circulation at the epidermal skin layer.
It is well known in the prior art that bedridden patients, particularly if their repose position is not regularly changed, tend to suffer from bed sores and the like.
It is also well known in the art that truck-drivers and the like, particularly if such driving is conducted frequently over long distances, tend to suffer posteriorly from skin irritation and the like.
There have been many attempts in the art to remedy or at least ameliorate bedridden patients' discomfort by using air mattresses. Such mattresses typically include, of course, one or more flexible enclosures which are filled with air. For example, In U.S. Pat. No. 4,057,861, Howorth discloses an open-cell mattress which delivers conditioned air through a diffusion mechanism. Scales discloses, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,822,425, an air mattress consisting of a plurality of vertically disposed cells which are constructed from a material which is permeable to gas but impermeable to both liquids and solids. The scales mattress limits passage therethrough to air, thereby preventing clogging from dirt and the like. Similarly, Ludman et al., in U.S. Pat. No. 4,580,301, disclose a mattress with a body of open-cell foam having air passages extending vertically therethrough.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,005,236, Graebe teaches an expendable multi-celled mattress which is formed from spaced-apart vertical fluted cells located upon mandrels. This cell-fluting is configured to provide intercellular contact when the cells are inflated, thereby forming a continuous surface. Yamaguchi, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,924,542, teaches a sleeping mattress which purports to simulate pressure on acupuncture points. A mattress core member having a plurality of reinforcing concave regions with a plurality of surface semi-spherical members, is interposed between upper and lower cushion members. The upper cushion member includes a plurality of undulated projections having a plurality of holes therethrough, which are configured to receive the corresponding plurality of semi-spherical members.
There have been air mattresses disclosed in the prior art which use pressurized air to reach patients in repose and the like. For example, Clark, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,120,061 discloses a pneumatic mattress with flexible valved cylinders disposed side by side. These cylinders consist of upper and lower sections which are interconnected by a corrugated section, which, in turn, receives air at the bottom of its lower section. Similarly, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,542,547, Sato also teaches a pneumatic mattress comprising a plurality of bellows-shaped units which may be selectively inflated or deflated to alter repose position thereon. Kerry, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,784,994, also teaches an air mattress having vertically aligned inflatable bellows. Air is distributed through each bellows with a compressor. In U.S. Pat. No. 3,942,202, Chevrolet discloses an air support mattress having an array of passages adapted to receive pressurized air which is released at the mattress surface through an array of corresponding vents.
There have also been attempts in the prior art to promote comfort while sitting. For example, Weber, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,164,798, teaches a seat cushion for preventing excessive pressure on the coccyx.
While, as hereinbefore exemplified, practitioners in the art have attempted to improve the means for delivering air to the surface of a mattress, and to avoid clogging of air passages inhibiting such delivery, there has been less effort expended to assure that air is delivered uniformly thereat, without requiring pneumatics and the like. There has also been minimal effort expended to provide similar features to truck-drivers and the like who regularly sit for prolonged periods of time.
Accordingly, these limitations and disadvantages of the prior art are overcome with the present invention, and improved means and techniques are provided which are useful for inexpensively and conveniently delivering air uniformly to the mattress surface, for preventing bed sores and the like.